CH 196

Swoosh! Philip quickly approached Zepar and swung the ghost-busting club. Zepar was going to brush it away with a hand but suddenly flinched. He quickly pulled back and kicked the ground, letting the club hit the air.

‘…What’s this?’ Zepar’s eyes narrowed as he withdrew. His opponent was a mere human; if he wanted, he could easily kill him with one hit. The difference in their power was more than crystal clear. Thus, Zepar couldn’t understand why he had stepped back by instinct. Why? For what reason? Even while he questioned his actions, Zepar focused on avoiding Philip’s attacks; the man had rushed toward him like a mad dog. Zepar continuously stepped back following his instincts, but then finally stopped. He hit the wall, and there was no backing further. At the same time, a shadow was cast on top of Zepar’s head.

He looked up to see the club coming down with the force to split the earth in half. Zepar’s eyes widened. Facing it closer, he realized that his reaction hadn’t been a mistake. His body was sending resounding alarms that this club must never hit him, and he should do his very best to avoid it. He didn’t know why, but—

‘It’s dangerous.’ There was no time for him to think anymore. Zepar chose to raise one arm rather than let the club hit his head.

Bam! Crash! A dull explosion rang, and a part of his iron armor cracked and shattered before falling to the ground. Philip glanced at the piece of armor the size of an arm buried in the muddy soil and quickly shifted his gaze back to his opponent. Zepar had already left the corner and increased his distance from him. The forearm guard was now gone.

“…No wonder. That’s why…” Rather than blood, a strange darkness flowed out of where his entire elbow was cut off. “This power is La Bella’s…no, I don’t think that’s the only thing…” Zepar raised his injured arm and carefully investigated it; then he glanced at Philip. “You were hiding a terrifying power.” There was no longer any leisure in his gaze. The carelessness he showed was completely gone. “Hmm, I don’t know who you are, but…good. I’m Zepar, ranked 16th in the Demon Empire.”

The Demon Empire operated solely under the rule of the survival of the fittest. By officially revealing his name, it meant that Zepar recognized Philip as a worthy opponent. Or in other words, he was going to fight using his full strength. The energy that came out from his shattered iron armor split into separate branches, each taking the shape of chains, and when Zepar shook his arm as hard as he could, the chains multiplied into dozens and dropped down from the stump.

Philip clicked his tongue and widened his distance from Zepar for now, swinging the club. Bang! Bang! Philip hit all the chains that came at him, but the chains continued to push him back like waves. Moreover, they were whipping left and right and circling around to enclose Philip in several layers. Philip didn’t let them claim him like a sitting duck. He gathered as much exorcism mana as he could, compressed it, and pushed it into the club with all his might. Then he raised the club again. A storm of light erupted, extending from the tip of the club and wrapping around Philip with increasing intensity. The large blinding sphere collided with the chains that were quickly crushing Philip.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiing! Light and darkness converged and sparked, sputtering fragments of light. The sight of a fierce, close-knit battle between the opposing forces was spectacular to behold.

“Whoa…” Zepar was in awe; in terms of quantity, his chains were far superior. However, their attacks just now were on par with each other. This meant that in terms of quality, his attack was overwhelmingly inferior. It was really surprising, but he had witnessed it with his own eyes. Zepar licked his mouth, and while his eyes shone, he gently retrieved the energy he sent out.

As the dark chain’s offense gradually subsided, Philip also slowly withdrew his exorcism mana as well. Even though it wasn’t obvious, his breathing had become rough. Nevertheless, Philip aimed for an opportunity to strike without taking a break, but soon, he couldn’t help but frown as things that looked like black hemispheres emerged in a flurry around Zepar. They aimed for Philip at the same time. Soon, spheres the size of fists protruded out of the hemispheres and began to shoot at Philip like bullets from hell.

“Damn, fuck!” Philip couldn’t stop himself from swearing. Chi-Woo’s total amount of energy fell far short of a great demon. Thus, Philip needed to save as much as he could and defeat Zepar before he ran out of energy. Judging by what his opponent was doing, it seemed Zepar had noticed this weakness; the demon was trying to overwhelm him with quantity, preventing him from getting closer.

“This is how you wanna play this? Let’s see if I can reduce the distance or not.” Philip spat and twisted his body. He moved through the swarm of bullets and swung in a circle around Zepar.

Crassssssssh! A bright light flashed every time a bullet exploded. Jin-Cheon watched with amazement. Chanting her spell, Apoline couldn’t hide her surprise while sweat poured down her face, either. Zepar’s strength went far beyond their expectations; every attack was so powerful that one hit could take someone’s life. And even while he poured out such strong attacks like water, he didn’t seem tired in the least. This was a testimony to how strong Zepar was.

However, the more shocking performance came from their comrade, who still hadn’t revealed his name. He said he’d keep Zepar busy by himself for now, and he was keeping his word. He parried Zepar’s attack with his club and evaded all the bullets with speedy maneuvers that could only be described as spectacular. And even while avoiding the bullets, he was steadily narrowing his distance from the enemy. Jin-Cheon wondered what would happen if he were the one fighting the demon. Would he be able to do the same? Jin-Cheon shook his head. It would be absolutely impossible for him to do so in his current condition, and the same went for Chi-Woo.

Since Chi-Woo shared the same view as Philip, he could see Philip’s amazing skills even more clearly and closely than the others. Chi-Woo’s field of vision constantly rotated every second as Philip moved vigorously and quickly.

‘How…’ Chi-Woo subconsciously evaluated his skills. Only their souls had switched places, and the amount of energy produced by his body was the same. However, there was a huge difference between him and Philip. Chi-Woo felt slightly defeated, but the overpowering emotion was relief. He had thought this would be a tough fight with an extremely high chance of failure. However, at this rate, they might really be able to win. Chi-Woo became hopeful as he watched Philip give as good as he got facing a mighty great demon.

Soon after, the distance between Zepar and Philip gradually decreased, and Philip was about to enter Zepar’s close range when—

The bullets that had been sporadically firing at Philip suddenly stopped. Philip didn’t know the reason, but since he’d come so far, he couldn’t back down. Immediately, Philip extended his arm, attempting to pierce Zepar with the faintly glowing ghost-busting club. However, it was then the hemispheres floating in the air melted and wrapped around Zepar as if they had been waiting for this moment all along.

Bamm! A tremendous explosion echoed through the cavern. In the aftermath of the explosion, the ground cracked, and the wind blew relentlessly. Among the scattering mud, Philip saw a flash of red light. Something dark popped out shortly—it was not Zepar. Or to be more exact, Zepar no longer looked the same. He was not wearing iron armor anymore, and he was closer to a spirit than a living being. Before Philip could assess the situation, Zepar rushed towards Philip head-on, almost as if he was trying to join their body together.

—Kyaha!

Zepar passed straight through Philip and exited from his back.

“Ack!” Someone gasped for breath.

Palms sweaty from watching the fight play out, Jin-Cheon gasped when Chi-Woo dipped his head and collapsed to the ground. Zepar’s spirit overlapped with Chi-Woo’s body for a brief moment before immediately escaping. Then the great demon quickly materialized as his original form.

“Huff, puff, ack!” However, a significant part of his armor had been melted. “Aghhh…! What…!” Zepar was in a terrible condition after passing through Philip as a spirit. He didn’t know what exactly his opponent was; the brief infiltration had caused significant damage to his whole body. Nevertheless, he was able to accomplish his goal after deliberately letting his opponent get closer, using the man’s intention against him. Despite the pain, Zepar lifted the neok in his hand. This was the reason why he had overextended himself and infiltrated his opponent’s body—it was to get materials for his upcoming experiment.

Even though Zepar didn’t know the identity of the human fighting him, it was clear that he was someone with considerable power. Every time he encountered his attack, an unknown force ate up his darkness, and it made him shiver in fear.

After facing his opponent head-on, Zepar realized that the purity of his opponent’s energy was unquestionable. In fact, his energy was purity itself, and Zepar had never seen such energy in his life or even after his death. It might be even purer than the saintess’ soul. That was why Zepar got greedy. If he acquired this ingredient and moved to the fortress safely, he wouldn’t even have to use the saintess’ soul. Then he could keep Evelyn as his slave forever. Zepar was willing to risk this much pain for his enjoyment.

“Heh—Let me see. Who is this human that…” Zepar fell into shock once he saw what was in his hand. “What?” Zepar thought he had definitely snatched his opponent’s neok, but it was actually a soul. ‘Why did I get a soul? No, wait. It seems like I don’t have a neok?’

Zepar fell into confusion. Meanwhile, Philip, who had been twisting and thrashing, felt a presence quickly approaching them and cast a sideways glance. He cried out so loudly that everyone would’ve heard him if they could.

—It’s time! Hurry!

Since Zepar was currently connected to his spirit, he could hear Philip loud and clear. He flinched.

“I almost forgot!” Zepar quickly turned back and shot his darkness at Jin-Cheon.

“Ack-!” Blood splattered in the air.

Zepar was dumbfounded as he saw his chains penetrate Jin-Cheon and push him back. ‘What’s this? Seriously, this is what they’ve been aiming for?’ But his questions were answered when he suddenly sensed a mana of formidable strength.

Crackkkkle! His surroundings instantly became scorching. A platinum blonde girl was floating in the air with a bright sun blazing above her hand. When Zepar lifted his head, Apoline swung her arm down with all her might as if she was throwing a ball.

Crack- The sun cracked and split, and a huge burning dragon jumped out. A violent roar shook the space. Zepar scowled when he saw the dragon lunge at his face. This must be the real attack.

“This is nothing!” Zepar immediately gathered his energy and retaliated.

Crasssssh! A huge amount of water vapor formed as fire and darkness collided. The resulting haze made their surroundings look distorted. The dragon was a magic manifestation created by Apoline, who was born with an enormous amount of mana. Moreover, Zepar’s condition had significantly worsened since the beginning of the fight. Thus, despite his claims, it was all Zepar could do to block Apoline’s attack, let alone launch a counterattack.

‘Just hang in there…! I just need to endure a bit more…!’ Zepar tried to calm his shaking body and clenched his teeth. This had been a much harder battle than he had imagined, but the end was in sight. Since he had snatched the soul of the most dangerous of his enemies, which was no different from killing him, he no longer needed to pay attention to him. The other man was nothing much, and the platinum-blonde girl didn’t seem capable of making another attack. She must have poured all her energy into the spell, so this would most likely be her first and last offensive.

Zepar thought that as long as he endured this, he would win, so he devoted all his strength into defending himself. He grinned as he saw his darkness eat the head of the dragon. Then at that exact moment, he felt a cool sensation sweep through his neck. Zepar turned around by instinct.

“…What?” He shook his head blankly and made a shrill sound without realizing it. A soulless body shouldn’t be able to move; it defied the law of nature. However, the man whose soul Zepar had snatched was alive and kicking. He even leaped into the air and raised his club as far back as possible. This was completely disastrous for Zepar, while it was a chance that Chi-Woo would never be able to obtain ever again.

There was no way Zepar could have known that there were two souls in one body. Philip had told Chi-Woo to swap with him from the very beginning of the fight for a reason; as Zepar aimed for his weakness, Philip also had a secret plan—even before their fight started. As a result, Zepar made a fatal mistake.

Zepar had already lost a significant amount of his energy, and he was stuck defending himself from Apoline’s dragon. Jin-Cheon had distracted him for a brief moment, and Apoline created a golden opportunity for Chi-Woo to strike. Thanks to their efforts, Chi-Woo could capitalize on this opportunity to his heart’s content. He scraped off all his exorcism mana without leaving even a grain and fused it into the club, compressing and condensing it to a single dot at the very tip. Then he swung his arm at Zepar as he quickly moved.

A snap punch. It was a punch that retracted the moment one’s fist made contact with the target. After hitting the same rock tens of thousands of times and going through hundreds of simulations, Chi-Woo had finally obtained this technique. All the experience he accumulated so far was reproduced at this very moment without a single fault or mistake. It was impeccable.

—Kill him!

“No-!”

Chi-Woo’s club drew a smooth curve and precisely landed on top of Zepar’s head, whose eyes had turned the size of saucers.